I am, indeed, related to the Wright Brothers.
Did you know that?
As a matter of fact, I birthed them.
It was an honor.
It's very strange to think that at one point in my life I had just boys. I remember there was a day that Gary would come home from work and ask, "What did you and the boys do today?" Or if a friend called wanting an impromptu play date I would say, "Let me get the boys ready and I'll be on my way."
And then after about 2 1/2 years of that it came to a screeching hault.
Then I stumbled, "Me and the boys.... er, uh, me and the kids." It took some getting used to.
It's very strange to me now. Especially now that the girls outnumber the boys, even if only by one.
That brings me back to the memory of when I had two boys and two girls, no fifth child, pre-Zoe. I can't tell you how many times people would say, "Oh my, you couldn't have planned that more perfectly."
Perfectly?!?!
Ugh!
I hated it! I hated that is was SO even and nicely packaged! I HAD to have at least one more baby to mix that up, it was way too orderly for my liking. It drove me THAT nuts that it was "neat".
Kind of like that time I got this haircut-
Which I can see now that's it's hard to see. Fuzzy brown hair on fuzzy brown shirt.
But I had just come from long hair (probably the longest I had ever had) and needed a change. I went to my trusty hair friend and said, "Do whatever you want!"
So what I got what straight, one length and neat.
I initially liked it, l was excited for the change. But then it wasn't long before I thought, "This is WAY too neat. I look too.... meticulous."
It wasn't long before I was back at my friends asking her to mess it up a bit, make some layers or something.
But I digress, back to my boys.....
So here I would like to share with you my favorite pictures of The Wright Brothers. The two brothers who are as different as night and day, I wouldn't have it any other way. It would be 'too perfect' otherwise.
So here I give you, two of my favorite guys-
And because I don't like things so neat and tidy....
Do you want the good news or bad news first?
Although it's not exactly good news and bad news....
More like something silly and something dark.
Okay, dark thing first.... then I'll uplift before you move on.
Here goes. We recently took in a kitten named Jeffrey.
We took in a kitten, Buddy, about a year ago and it didn't turn out so well. If you want to read the story, click here. But the fact of the matter is, the story came to a tragic end, but I never came back to tell it. I didn't want to blog about it because I truly want my blog to be happy and the end to that story is anything but.
I insist, go read the story, I'll give you a minute. Then come back and let me tell you the truth about how it ends.....
.
.
.
Okay...
What I never came back and told you all is that Buddy ended up ..... well, let's just say, he's no longer with us. And let's just say... it's something we don't like talking about much in the home.
Here is the thing.... we are pretty sure that Boo had Buddy 'taken care of'. Off-ed, if ya know what I'm sayin.
As read in The Tale (tail?) of Two Kitties, Boo didn't like Buddy, then she tolderated him, even taught him a few skills, then she hated him.
What I never said is, suddenly Boo went missing for days at a time.
I knew something was up.
Then Buddy went missing.
Is it just me, or is that fishy?
We are convinced that while Boo was missing... she was contacting some ...... hitman. Or 'hitcat', as they probably say in their world.
Oh I hate saying it, but we all know it's true!
And before we knew it, Buddy was never to be seen again, gone forever.
We didn't feel right about it, we were just sick, but really, what could we do?
It was not easy knowing this about Boo.
So flash forward a year... We got another kitten. (see here)
So far it's been an instant repeat- Boo hates new kitten, Boo began to tolerate new kitten, Boo began to play with new kitten......
We were very hopeful but...
Suddenly, Boo seems to despise little Jeffrey.
And now I am scared. I am worried about Jeffrey!
If you see Boo hanging around some stray cats in your area, please let me know... I don't know what I can do about it, but...... the heads up might help.
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And on a lighter note.
And again, never mind my camera with no sound. Naomi had just put a pile of rice on her plate. And said, "Hey... where is my fork?!?" And then she did this.. And just kinda dumped all the rice on the floor. Maybe you had to be there. Tomorrow I shall tell you of some famous people I am related to. Stay tuned! And look out for Boo.
Last night something funny happened at the dinner table. I had Naomi recreate it today, somewhat.
Rae has her own camera now and it's entertaining to find pictures she's taken and saved onto the computer.
Like this one from a week or so ago when she had a friend over.
Silly girls.
They had an idea of posing with a teddy bear, kissing up on it, you know they thought it would be the cutest thing ever.
Here is a picture I took with my friend in my youth-
Admittedly, I was a couple of years older there than Rae is now.
But still.
What's important is you knowing that I knew props when I was a teen.
That I knew that when you needed to spice things up and pose with a friend, while posing with a prop, I knew how and what.
See...
We posed with Whoppers from Burger King.
Need a close up?
Mmmmmm....
Take it back now ya'll.
Wait- do you see that?
See, it's not that I didn't have a Teddy.
It's just that I had my priorities in order.
P.S. I found the skunk picture. I repeat, I found the skunk picture. Scroll down to yesterday's post to see it.
My husband, when he was a young (and hot) fella, served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (but he wasn't hot then, not as a missionary, that wouldn't be right, heh-heh).
He served in Utah, which is where The Church headquarters are, and where lots of members live, so people think it's funny that he served there, but it's really not, because there is a lot of work to do there too, ya know.
(like that run on sentence?)
While my husband was in Utah he was teaching a man that worked with the animals at the Hogle Zoo and got a back stage pass (I don't think it's called that....) and a close up look at the zoo animals.
But one of my favorite pictures is this one, at the Lion (not to be confused with the Liger) water fountain-
I bet there are many a picture taken just like this one.
It's just the greatest photo-op.
As a matter of fact, I used it as a photo op years later when my oldest son was in kindergarten and took a field trip there.
Two years later Nolan took the same field trip to the same place.
(he's the one waiting...)
Isn't it the sweetest? To re-enact a picture taken of their dad before they were even a twinkle in his eye?
I have a thing for re-enacting poses. As I posted before. See here.
Rae recently informed me that she hates when I say, "Before you were a twinkle in my eye". So I have to keep saying it, of course.
If I was one to title my blog entries this post might would be called-
'A Sister, a Man in Make-up and a Recipe'
or
'My Stand Against Rock-n-Roll, Tam and a Refreshing Summer Treat'
or
'Tam-a-lam-a-ding-dong, 80's Music, and a Bonus Recipe'
(anyone want to guess why I don't title my blog entries?)
I recently read someone's blog and she talked about getting a box from her parents home and dreading going through it.
That's so not me.
I love a visit to Memory Lane.
I mean, I love now more, but then was great.
So I cleaned out my closet recently and came across the only two albums I chose to save.
These two-
No joke.
I loved me some Boy George back in the day... if he had ever met me in person, I'm sure he would have asked me out, totally.
And I loved (and love) 80's music. I had a 'boom box' and I spent my fair share on new albums as they came out.
But when I was 18, I suddenly had nothing to do with the music playing at the time. I had had it with what was on the radio and I was taking a stand.
So instead I listened to my Mary Poppins. Over and over.
My sister, with whom I shared a room, would crank her Duran Duran up and I would counteract it with some Spoonful of Sugar.
I had this boyfriend that would call the popular radio station at night to dedicate a song to me and I wondered WHY?? I'll never hear it! And he knew that. I was not impressed.
Do any of my kin folk who visit my blog remember this?
Anyways, a year or so after I was married I had a visit with Tamara and she was pleased to find out that I was back to normal and turned the radio on in the car.
~~~
Around the same time that I was un-hooking from the radio I was hooked on my Mother's Orange Julius.
The youth group in my church had a fund raiser and sold cook books and so here I bring to you, the recipe, from one of the cook books from back in the day-
I made this today but used pineapple juice. Both are great.
Look at the frothy goodness.
A cool refreshing drink for a hot day.
Julius, Boy George and Tamara.... oh, and Naomi.
What a combo.
Deconstructed Fruit Pie A la Mode
You know... I am a foodie. I think I've made that clear. I'm very serious about food and creativity in the kitchen.
So I had this extra cookie dough and some fruit in my fridge and a Family Home Evening dessert to make.
That may sound like a daunting task to some but for me, well, psht.... I had this one at "extra cookie dough".
So it's as simple as this. With my creativity I cut my dough into strips and baked them.
(And because I am so stinkin' creative, when I didn't have the right tools, I looked in the kids play dough bucket. Scoured a tool clean and made it work. Genius, I know.)
With my food expertise I decided to cook in a pan about 6 nectarines in 1/3 cup of butter.
Then I plated the fruit.
(fyi- plating is a food expert term for putting the food creative-ly on the plate)
Then I took about 1/2 cup of berry nectar and 1/4 cup brown sugar and cooked that in the same pan until the sugar dissolved.
I scooped some madagascar vanilla ice cream and slapped it on the nectarines (like it was nuthin'), poured some sauce over that, added some fresh raspberries and topped with some of the cookie strips.
The presentation was fabulous if I say so myself. It tasted like a delicious fruit pie that was al a mode (Gary's fave).
I served, I accepted all the expected praise.....
It was beautiful.
And that's what I do.
Beautiful food.
I create beautiful food.
It's just what I do.
I understand that we can't all have this talent of creating dishes.
I'm sure you are good at something....
I rock.
.
.
.
Beg your pardon?
What?!
You've seen this dish before?
You just saw it on Better Homes and Garden's August's edition cover page?
Oh.... ha..... haha..... I uh.... I was about to say that......seriously.
Some people say that they "adapted" a recipe from another recipe..... if I used my left over Sugar Cookie dough instead of pie crust.... does that count as me 'adapting' this new recipe from someone elses?
No?
And you think my 'crust' looks like french fries?
Yeah... that's what my kids said too.
And BH&G called this dish Skillet Peaches a la Mode, I changed the name, isn't it way more cool??
Oh.
But it tastes good.
Just sayin'.
Come back tonight and see what I do with left over sugar cookie dough, a toy, and some fruit.
I bet the suspense is killing you....
The Results!
My whole time was spent in the kitchen, with the exception of taking my youngest two out so they wouldn't be cooped up all day. So the Youth Conference itself.. other than the food part, was described to me by Rae as, "The best day of her life."
I do know they did a service project for the local Habitat for Humanity, a panel discussion with the Stake Presidency (which I heard bits and pieces of and sounded awesome), a Dance, a Devotional and a Testimony Meeting.
In the meantime, on my side of the building, there was whipping and stirring and baking and slicing and chopping and you get the picture.
And all the while my two youngest were with me photographing things from their perspective.
The sack lunches - the one with the Temple Cookies - the cookies that I was worried about, not so sure they were obvious Temple Cookies.
The Cookies that I heard more than once as the youngin' looked into their lunch sack, "Oh look! Temple cookies!"
The sack lunches and the cookies.......
That Nolan didn't want his picture taken with.
The sack lunches and the cookies that Rae and friend did want their picture taken with
Rae- "I'll totally put this picture on my Facebook!"
Friend- "Totally, and tag me!"
And this chick right here....
The one who kept saying I was the boss....
Wouldn't listen to me and undermade the Lemonade.
She said something about "It's not that I don't trust you, I just don't believe you."
The nerve!
I think I'm gonna have to fire her.
"Liz, you're fired!"
But the next time I'm asked to do the food, will you come help?
If you do, I'll share the recipe for the Spanish Rice with you.....
This is my friends recipe. She is the one that I used to help cook for such shin-digs. Then she moved. When I consulted with her about this day I told her I was making her Spanish Rice and asked how many pans to make. She said, "Let's face it, kids are not going to pig out on the rice, only make 5 pans."
Boy was she wrong. Out of everything I made, I heard most about the rice.
So one could say I undermade rice, but it wasn't my fault. :)
Proof my kids are taking the pictures.
I think Del Monte, Tabasco and Country Time need to send me a check for product placement. Just sayin'.
And let's end this here blog post with dessert.... that's fitting, right? Since that's how this night ended.
I watched these youngsters get their cake. I said, "You can pick up a fork and use it to get your cake" (or something like that, whatever) and I declare 99% tried to get a piece by stabbing it.
The blond in the background? I've noticed her since she was in Primary and I swear, I look at her and can see what Naomi will look like at in the future. And they finally got to meet yesterday. And she agreed that Naomi looked like she did when she was a youngster.
I now declare the Bake-A-Thon over.
Phew!
Bake-A-Thon Update
Alright, I am calling it a day.
I've written a list of what needs to be done before I leave in the morning, and what I need to bring.
I sure hope I thought of everything.
And I hope I don't have anymore pretend nightmares tonight.
;-)
Nighty-night.
Bake-A-Thon Update
Yo.
So here is the deal. I am cranky and tired of this silly idea of me keeping everyone posted on what's up with my baking. Who's cotton pickin' idea was this anyways??
So I found this stupid box that's like the official bakery boxes that would be so cool if I cared right now. Wait, I got a slight twitter in the heart feeling. I reckon that means I still care some.
And I have a feeling that after a good nights rest I will care even more.
I took a picture of the cookies in the stupid bakery box but screwed up putting it on the computer.
Oh well.
